


Valentine

by LilacChocolate



Series: Life and Light and Laughter [5]
Category: Lockwood & Co. - Jonathan Stroud
Genre: Angst, Dancing, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-11 02:14:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15305190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilacChocolate/pseuds/LilacChocolate
Summary: Lockwood & Co. attend the Fittes' annual Valentine's Day ball.





	Valentine

Lucy sighed as she stared at herself in the mirror. Tonight was the Fittes’ annual Valentine’s Day ball, but she wasn’t looking forward to it. And for once, it wasn’t because she had to dress up. She’d spent so many years dressing in plain black thermal clothing that now Lucy looked forward to dressing up in something she could feel pretty in. As soon as the invitations had arrived, letting everyone at Lockwood & Co. know that the theme this year was pink, Lucy took herself off to Oxford Street and spent a whole morning looking around until she’d bought herself a pair of white heels along with a pink lace dress that had a small satin bow at the waist and a floaty skirt that went down to her knees.

She felt like a proper girl in this dress and thought she looked quite pretty with some makeup on and her hair up in a bun, so, no, her appearance, for once, wasn’t the reason why she wasn’t looking forward to the ball. It was because of the rest of the girls that would be there. At the last ball, which was the Christmas ball, Lockwood had spent the entire evening with a different girl draped over him every ten minutes. It wasn’t his fault; he had wanted to have fun with his friends and network with the owners of the other agencies, but he could barely break away from his admirers to even get a drink. Lucy could only hope that tonight wouldn’t be like that and that she could spend some time with her crush, one where he could see her in a different light.

‘Lucy!’ George shouted up the stairs. ‘You almost ready?’

‘Yeah! Just one second!’ She grabbed her rapier and slid it so it rested under the satin bow, then she ran downstairs.

George was on the first floor landing, wearing a bright pink blazer and pants and Lucy felt that she would be blinded just from looking at him for too long.

Lockwood was stood opposite him, outside his bedroom, and he smiled up at Lucy. Instead of his usual black suit, he was wearing grey along with a pale pink shirt.

Lucy smiled back at him, feeling a fluttering of nerves inside her tummy, but she continued down the stairs until she was stood in between them.

‘You look beautiful, Luce,’ Lockwood said, and the younger girl couldn’t help but blush.

‘Thank you.’ She glanced up at him through her eyelashes, and the two agents stared at each other until George cleared his throat.

‘All we all ready to go?’

Lockwood looked away from Lucy and gave George one of his charming smiles. ‘Of course. Let’s go and get a taxi.’

The three agents trundled downstairs and out of the house and George took the lead, heading down Portland Row to the taxi rank at the end of the street.

Lucy hung back, waiting as Lockwood locked the front door. He turned around when he was done and smiled at Lucy. ‘You okay?’

‘Err, yeah. Just waiting for you.’

His smile got bigger and he placed a hand on Lucy’s lower back, guiding her down the street. ‘You really do look lovely tonight,’ he said after a moment of silence.

‘Thanks,’ she replied, a light blush taking over her cheeks. ‘Are you planning on dancing tonight then?’

Lockwood rolled his eyes, remembering the last ball at Fittes House. ‘I’d like to, but all those female agents…’ he shuddered as he remembered the Christmas ball. The only girl he wanted that close to him was the one who was walking beside him, but Lucy seemed completely oblivious to his feelings for her.

‘Maybe if I dance with you as soon as we arrive, then they’ll leave you alone for a bit?’ Lucy suggested, which brought an even bigger smile to her best friend’s face.

‘I like the sound of that.’ Lockwood loved dancing. When his parents and sister had still been alive, he used to dance with his mum around the living room, standing on her feet as she laughed along to the music. He hadn’t really danced since, not wanting to as it reminded him too much of his dead family, but if there was one person he would make an exception for, it would be Lucy. He wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms and twirl her around the ballroom at Fittes House.

‘Oi!’ George shouted from down the street, a taxi with its door open beside where he stood. ‘The metre’s running!’

…

As soon as they stepped foot into the ballroom, the majority of the female agents seemed to zone in on Lockwood. They all stared at him, but before any of them could make their move and call him “theirs” for ten minutes of the night, Lucy grabbed his hand and pulled her boss onto the dance floor.

Lockwood didn’t complain and simply wrapped his arms around Lucy, slowly dancing with her to the music. This was already much better than the Christmas ball and they’d only just arrived.

‘Oh,’ Lucy said, looking down at her feet. ‘I should have probably mentioned this earlier, but I don’t really know how to dance.’

Lockwood chuckled. Of course, she didn’t. Only his Lucy would suggest dancing and then tell him she didn’t know how to once she started. ‘One night, when we don’t have a case, I’ll teach you how to dance.’ Maybe not in the living room, where his mother had taught him. That would be too painful for Lockwood. Maybe in the kitchen, or the fencing practice room.

‘Really?’

‘I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it.’

Lucy blushed, and Lockwood had a feeling she wasn't going to say anything for a few moments, so he took the opportunity to glance around the room. The heads of some of the smaller agencies were already there, but Tom Rotwell and Penelope Fittes had yet to make their grand entrance. As he scanned the crowd to look for his acquaintances, he noticed a good handful of female agents looking at him, but also, quite a lot of the male ones staring at Lucy. Out of reflex from his daydreams, Lockwood tightened his hold on her. One of the reasons he had developed feelings for Lucy was because of her lack of vanity. Sure, she was pretty, beautiful at times, like tonight, when she put in some effort to be more presentable than when they were out ghost hunting, but even dressed in all black thermals with her hair in a disarray and her face marked with magnesium powder, other male agents still stared at her. At first, Lockwood had put it down to jealousy, that the other agents wanted her Talent, but with the way they were openly gawking at her tonight, he knew that was no longer the case.

He held her even tighter and Lucy finally spoke. ‘Are you okay, Lockwood? You… look a bit tense.’ She had wanted to ask why he was holding her so tightly. Not that it was hurting her or anything; she just found it odd for her boss to do. She was just an employee to him, after all.

‘Oh, I’m fine.’ He slackened his grip on her, trying to smile his protectiveness off. He knew he couldn’t keep her safe when they were out ghost hunting, but he could try and keep her away from the other male agents. The only one he could really trust around Lucy now was George.

‘Do you want to get a drink?’ Lucy suggested. She didn’t really want to stop dancing: she loved the feeling of Lockwood’s arms around her, but the man looked like he was about to punch someone.

Lockwood nodded and he pulled Lucy away from the dance floor, making sure not to let go of her hand until they had reached the refreshments table.

George was there, holding a paper plate that was currently full of pork pies, and he smiled at the two of them. ‘Your dancing was great!’

‘It definitely was.’

The three of them turned around and saw a group of five girls, all slightly younger than Lucy, all with their hands planted on their hips. Lockwood didn’t have a clue who they were. He wasn’t great with faces at the best of times, and now they weren’t wearing their uniforms, he definitely had no idea.

‘Can I help you, ladies?’

The five girls exchanged a look, then the tallest of them grabbed Lockwood’s wrist and pulled him back out onto the dance floor.

Lucy's shoulders slumped as she watched Lockwood go. She knew he hadn’t wanted to go, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt any less to see him dancing with another girl.

‘You okay, Luce?’ George asked around the mini pork pie in his mouth.

‘Yeah,’ she lied. ‘I just wanted Lockwood to enjoy tonight.’

Before George could reply, there was a tap on Lucy’s shoulder. She turned, unable to stop herself from taking a step backwards when she saw Kipps grinning at her.

‘Carlyle.’

‘Hello, Kipps. Lockwood is-’

‘I know.’ Kipps smirked and held out his hand. ‘I’m here for you. Care to dance?’

She bit her lip and looked over at Lockwood. He was still dancing with the tall girl, and he didn’t seem to be making an effort to get away from her. Why shouldn’t she dance with Kipps? ‘Okay.’

‘Lucy!’ George spluttered, but she ignored his protest and let Kipps take her hand and lead her out onto the dance floor.

They weren’t particularly near Lockwood and his partner, but what if he could see her and Kipps? Lucy shook her head. Why on earth would Lockwood look for her? He didn’t think of her that highly.

‘So…’ Kipps said.

‘So?’

‘When are you joining Fittes?’

Lucy spluttered on her own spit as she danced. ‘Excuse me?’

‘The offer to join Fittes is still open. Penelope wants you here, with her. She knows how Talented you are. She doesn’t want it to go to waste.’

‘It won’t.’

Kipps laughed. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. You know how reckless Locky is. He’ll kill you one of these days.’

‘Lockwood would never put me in any kind of danger.’ She tensed up under Kipps’ hold as she said it, but Lucy knew he was right. But she could never leave him. She loved him too much to do that, even if her feelings were unrequited.

‘Just, think about it. He gets bored very quickly.’ Kipps came to a stop and he lifted up Lucy’s hand, placing a kiss on the knuckles before he left with a wink.

Lucy stood there, slightly dumbfounded, but she only had a moment to collect herself before Lockwood marched over to her.

‘Lockwood, weren’t you dancing-’

He didn’t let her finish. He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the side of the ballroom. He’d seen Lucy, _his Lucy,_ dancing with Kipps. The slimy git had had his hands all over her, and then he had the audacity to kiss her hand. ‘What did Kipps want?’ he asked, trying to keep his voice level despite his tight grip on Lucy’s hand.

She sighed and looked away from him. ‘He wanted me to join Fittes. Well, Penelope does, but he asked me.’

‘What did you say?’

‘No, of course.’

Lockwood clenched his jaw. ‘Would you, though?’

‘Would I what?’ Lucy asked, confused.

‘Join Fittes.’

‘I just said no, Lockwood.’

He let go of her hand, imagining her leaving. Would she go in the middle of the night and leave a note, telling him she was resigning? Or would she do it in the morning, after a case? He didn’t want her to leave, but he had to know. ‘What about leave to another agency that wasn’t Fittes?’

Lucy shrugged. ‘If you died I would,’ she whispered. She couldn’t bear to spend another moment at Portland Row if anything happened to Lockwood.

‘Why wouldn’t you stay?’ he asked, completely confused. He knew he was reckless, but he didn’t want to die. But even if he did end up that way, he would want Lucy to stay and take his place as head of Lockwood and Co.

‘At Portland Row? With all of those memories?’ Lucy shook her head, feeling the beginning of tears forming in her eyes. ‘It would kill me, Lockwood. I can’t live without you.’ She looked up and saw that her boss and best friend was openly gaping at her, seemingly speechless for the first time in his life. Was this a good or a bad thing? Perceiving it to be a bad thing, Lucy shook her head and walked away from Lockwood, leaving the ballroom altogether.

It took Lockwood a moment to gather his senses, but as soon as he did, he was practically running after Lucy. She couldn’t live without him? Did that mean… did he dare to think that Lucy might return his feelings?

He found her in the entrance hall, approaching the cloakroom to get her rapier back, but he grabbed her hand and pulled his agent behind a plant. ‘Where do you think you’re going?’

Lucy looked up at Lockwood, the tears in her eyes more prominent than they were before. ‘Home. I can’t stand to be here, watching other girls dance with you and-’

Lockwood cupped Lucy’s cheek in his large hand, then he leant in and kissed her. She gasped, but instead of pulling away out of shock, she rested her hands on Lockwood’s shoulders and kissed him back.

The older smiled into the kiss. It was finally happening. He’d been dreaming of this moment for almost two years. He reached out with his other hand, going for Lucy’s waist, but as soon as his fingers grazed over her hip, Lucy pushed Lockwood away with a squeak.

‘Oh my god! I’m so sorry, Lockwood! You’re my boss! I shouldn’t have done that. We-’

With a smirk, he leant in and kissed Lucy again, just a small peck on the lips this time, before he pulled away. ‘I kissed you, Luce. And I’m not sorry one bit. I can’t live without you, either.’

She stared at him for a moment, then her whole face broke out into a smile. ‘Lockwood…’

‘Come on, let’s go home.’

‘Don’t you want to network?’

He shook his head as he walked over to the cloakroom. ‘With the way the rest of the male agents are staring at you? No. I want you all to myself.’

**Author's Note:**

> http://lilacchocolate.tumblr.com/


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